Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Youk on the offense and Papi

Kevin Youkilis, aside from sporting his new Youk fu facial display, was in a good mood on Sunday as several reporters surrounded his locker.

He is not worked up about the lack of true sluggers beyond David Ortiz.

“I think the
key is if a guy doesn’t hit for a lot of power, the key is, are they giving you
good at-bats? You have a guy like J.D. that can grind out at-bats and take
pitches and he can hit the longball with the best of them. Then you have guys
like Jason Bay, Mike Lowell, all the way down the line, we’re going to grind it
out and have good at-bats. Jed Lowrie is a guy who can give great at-bats. That’s
the key. Just try to have guys who are going to grind it out and we have that. Do
it the the Boston Red Sox way like we’ve done for years, that’s our motto is
grind it out every day.”

And the man they call Youuuuuukkkkkkkk is particularly intrigued by what Ortiz might accomplish with the full health back in his left wrist:

“It’s huge,” Youkilis said. “He
can drive in over 120 runs a year. If he stays healthy and drives in 120, 130,
140 and you have those guys in front of you, Jacoby and Pedey, they’re going to
be on base. There’s a lot of things you can do there.”

And what about silencing the critics?

“David is going
to have a good year if he stays healthy. If he has his confidence, it’s lights
out,” Youkilis said. “The bottom
line with David is I would like David to go out there and honestly go out there
on the field and shut some people up. That’s the best thing to do, for people
who have said, you can’t do it, and he’s getting old, I’d like for him to go
deep in the first three at-bats of the season.”

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6 Comments

Jason Bay gets no respect. He’s no Zazu, but that’s a good thing. Zazu was a very unhappy person and it showed in his performance sometimes. I think Bay will make some people pay, lol. And the Sox will benefit. He’ll sneak up on the league for the first month or two. This Sox team does so many things well they don’t need a slugger. Youk has it right, the Sox will grind the opposition down and at the end of the year be at or close to the top in runs scored.

By plugging “13,909” and “Boston Garden” into an internet search, I did find an old SI article that confirmed that the Celts used to play to a capacity crowd of 13,909 (Obviously, before you were a twinkle in your parents’ eyes [lol!!!].

The first Garden game I attended (I think I had already been to see a James Taylor concert [when “Sweet Baby James” had just been released] where the “warm-up” act was some woman named “Carole King!!!”) was a Bruins game during 1970-71 when I was attending BU. At that point, with Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Derek Sanderson, Johnny Bucyk, Gerry Cheevers and the crew, Bruins tickets were being passed through estates. The only seat I could buy allowed me a look at one end of the ice and this enormous steel girter. Not every old Garden seat stirred your idyllic memories (lol). Frankly, I have not set foot in the Fleet Center. To me, there’s just no place to watch sports in Boston like Fenway. There are few bad seats in that place. Sitting in the bleachers, I really feel like I am close to the action. In Cleveland at Jacobs Field (oops, I’m bad…now Progressive Field…so Cleveburg has its P and its Q (the basketball arena), and still doesn’t watch them!![lol]) When you get to the upper decking seating, I really get the feeling I’m a couple of counties away from the action. I grant you those seats are very affordable — the seats I’m talking about are $15 or less, and bleacher seats, which are quite close to the action, are $20 or so, even for Sox games. As a Sox fan, it is somewhat comforting to look out at Cleveland’s left field “Green Monster replica,” but give me the real thing anytime. Some day, I intend to host a party in the Green Monster seats. What the heck…its only money!!!

Hey! Arnie!

The only response I can make to your most recent posting is…dammit….let’s get Bay signed!!!! I really want to see Bay and Jon L. under long term contractual commitment with the Sox. What they have been through…Lester…the lymphoma…and Bay…sliding into left field behind Zazu…and the way they have aleady performed…the FO needs to step up with each of these guys.

Slip on Jason Bay’s shoes…you step into left field at Fenway…succeeding four predecessors, all of whom were, or will be, HoF’rs. Your response: You help the Sox win that very night, and go on to produce consistently so that an injury-riddled team comes just short of returning to the World Series. He’s got me sold…I’m a card-carrying member of the “Bay State!” (It doesn’t hurt that he shares my Canadian heritage…[like it doesn’t hurt my perspective on Tito that we share the same birthday!!!]) Let’s make him a long-term Soxer…and let’s do it quick!!!!

God, I can’t wait for the regular season to start.

Hey! BosoxBrian and Ellenc!

I should be putting my feet down in your state on March 11th and have SRO tix to the Sox/O’s game on the 15th. And as I look outside my window…it’s still snowing!!!!!

Hey! Ellenc!

I hope your “Sox” perspective is slowing returning. I really think this year of Sox baseball will be a lot of fun!!!

dbenj…. I ‘m going to the Sox/O’s on the 14th here in Fort Lauderdale… too bad youre not coming to that one!! A Grrrrrrrrrrreat TIME WOULD BE HAD BY ALL!!!
Brian, oh my sweet Brian, you DO NOT want a picture of me in a bikini.. I dont think there is enough memory or pixels, or whatever it is you need for me in a bikini!!!! LOL REALLY LOUD! Oh BTW, for the moment, I cant blame my screw-ups on my blondness… I went red blonde last night. Lets see if it helps my brain!!!
On a serious note: I want to thank ALL of you for all of your prayers and kind words and thoughts for my Mom, for me and for my family.
Family… It sure feels that way here!! Thanks again, and I think I’m back here full time.

Does anyone know what the plans are, if any, that Schilling has?? I think he’ll probably get the “itch”, no not THAT itch, the itch to play, around June or maybe the AllStar Break. That would be a good thing if he came back (if we have an injury)!!

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